Breast Cancer Therapy

Estrogen therapy (ET) increases the estrogen level in your body. Estrogen impacts multiple systems of the body. Estrogen therapy (ET) is used to increase estrogen levels in postmenopausal women who have no uterus. This treatment may help prevent perimenopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, and colon cancer. Women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s who experience early menopause after having their ovaries removed (oophorectomy) or because of other medical reasons typically take ET to reduce their risk of early bone loss and osteoporosis. Historically, women have continued using ET for years beyond menopause. Women with a uterus who take estrogen also need the hormone progestin to prevent the estrogen from overgrowing the uterine lining, which can lead to endometrial (uterine) cancer. Estrogen-progestin is called hormone therapy (HT).

Breast Reconstruction:- Many women who have a mastectomy—surgery to remove an entire breast to treat or prevent breast cancer—have the option of having more surgery to rebuild the shape of the removed breast. Breast reconstruction surgery can be either immediate or delayed. With immediate reconstruction, a surgeon performs the first stage to rebuild the breast during the same operation as the mastectomy. A method called skin-sparing mastectomy may be used to save enough breast skin to cover the reconstruction. Breasts can be rebuilt using implants (saline or silicone) or autologous tissue (that is, tissue from elsewhere in the body). Most breast reconstructions performed today are immediate reconstructions with implants.

Some treatments remove or destroy the disease within the breast and nearby tissues, such as lymph nodes. These include:

Surgery to remove the whole breast, called a mastectomy, or to remove just the tumor and tissues around it, called a lumpectomy or breast-conserving surgery. There are different types of mastectomies and lumpectomies.

Radiation therapy, which uses high-energy waves to kill cancer cells.

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. As these powerful medicines fight the disease, they also can cause side effects, like nausea, hair loss, early menopause, hot flashes, and fatigue.

Hormone therapy uses drugs to prevent hormones, especially estrogen, from fueling the growth of breast cancer cells. Medicines include tamoxifen (Nolvadex, Soltamox) for women before and after menopause and anastrozole (Arimidex), exemestane (Aromasin), and letrozole (Femara) for postmenopausal women. Side effects can include hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Some types of this therapy work by stopping the ovaries from making hormones, either through surgery or medication.

Targeted therapy such as lapatinib (Tykerb), pertuzumab (Perjeta), and trastuzumab (Herceptin). These medicines prompt the body's immune system to destroy cancer. They target breast cancer cells that have high levels of a protein called HER2. Palbociclib (Ibrance) works by blocking a molecule that promotes cancer growth. Along with letrozole, palbociclib is for postmenopausal women with certain types of advanced cancer.